Cleaning reminder

ABSTRACT

A patch of paper or cloth adapted to be attached to a fabric material, one portion of the face thereof having a soil receptive surface and another portion of the face thereof having a soil resistant surface.

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 7/1897Little.....................

[72] Inventor Warren L. Burmeister 586,386 735,749 8/1903 Glidden.1,059,860 4/1913 Geer...... 1,523,064 2,495,200

Jan. 8, 1968 [45] Patented Jan. 11, 1972 l/l950 Sands Q 4 J h ".m M e w.mn oe w R i He /.m m m ME AN Z 3 in F N8 n m 8 Rr D 2 m n El LC C4 4Assistant Examiner-Wenceslao .1. Contreras Attorney-Gradolph, Love,Rogers & Van Sciver 35/49 A44c 3/00 ...40/2, F,

ABSTRACT: A patch of paper or cloth adapted to be attached to a fabricmaterial,

[50] Field of Search............

5/4 one portion of the face thereof having a e and another portion ofthe face thereof soil receptive surfac having a soil resistant surface.

16 CL FAA/6'0 mv JOHN DOE CLEH/VFES f 5 m f vi 4; ZN 5- f A I. 4A 2CLEANING REMINDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the advent of the newfabrics which hold a press permanently or semipermanently, mens darksuits can often become quite dirty before there is any noticeable needfor dry cleaning. In earlier days, of course, suits and trousers losttheir press sufficiently quickly so that a trip to the cleaners everyfour or five wearings was more or less routine. Dirty suits, eventhrough not visibly so, can soil upholstered furniture and otherarticles of apparel such as shirts and the like. Accordingly, therewould be value to a device which could be affixed to a dark suit andwould give an indication as to the amount of actual soil in the suit,and thus notify the owner as to when the suit is due for a cleaning.Incidental but substantial benefits, of course, would be felt by thecleaners who might expect a greatly augmented volume of business fromthe use of this invention.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention, as started, is directedto an indicator for the amount of soil which may be present in thefabric. To this end, a backing material which may be of cloth or paperis equipped with means such as adhesive, pins, clips, etc., for securingthe backing to the fabric under surveillance. The face of the backingwill have a soil-receptive area desirably in immediate juxtapositionwith a soil-repellent or resistant area. The soilreceptive area may benatural cloth, unsized rough paper, flocking, tacky coatings, etc. Thesoil-repellent or resistant area may be a coating on the paper or clothof sizing, lacquer, a plastic impregnant, or a sheet of smooth plasticoverlying the backing. In any case, it should have a smooth surface.Both of these surfaces will have the same color and that color should bedesirably white or, certainly, light. As soil accumulates on thesoil-receptive area, the line of distinction or the contrast between theareas will become more and more distinct and thus provide a visualindication as to the amount of soil present in the fabric. Although thisinvention was discussed above in terms of mendark suits, it will beappreciated that it is applicable to any fabric including all clothing,draperies, upholstery materials, bedspreads, etc. Likewise the devicemay be adapted for permanent or temporary attachment to the fabric.

In an indicator to be permanently attached, the soil-receptive surfaceshould be cleanable along with the fabric so as to restore the indicatorto its clean condition. Generally, however, it is preferred that theindicator be replaced by the laundry or dry cleaner upon each cleaning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cleaning tagincorporating the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 ofFIg. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The illustrated embodiment of thisinvention consists of a rectangle of light cloth 12 having a heat orpressure sensitive adhesive 14 on the backside thereof by which therectangle is secured to a garment. The indicator strip 16 is desirablyconsiderably smaller than the rectangle so as to leave margins 18thereabout on which the name of the cleaner may be placed as at 20 and,desirably, the date of last cleaning as at 22.

The indicator strip 16 is a white sheet of fabric adhesively secured tothe base rectangle l2 and incorporates a heavily sized central portion24 which is smooth and glossy and essentially soil resistant and unsizedend portions 26 which are soil receptive.

The cleaners tag may be applied to mens trousers, for instance, bysecuring it to the inside of the waistband as by ironing or pressure.The tag may be secured to a mans jacket by attaching it to the lining inthe vicinity of the inside breast pocket. It may be secured to suchfabrics as draperies by placing it on the back side of the draperiesadjacent an inconspicuous comer. It may be secured to upholsteredfurniture by attaching it to the underside of the article. In any ofsuch positions it will obtain an exposure to soiling which isproportional, at least, to the exposure of the more visible area of thefabric. At any rate, even if the patch soils considerably more slowlythan the fabric, it at least will show that the fabric is positivelysoiled when it might not otherwise be apparent from the appearance ofthe fabric itself.

It will be understood that the essential elements of this invention liein an inexpensive patch of a white or a light color, a portion of thesurface of which is soil resistant and the other portion the surface ofwhich is soil receptive, and within this general concept many variationsof practice are feasible. As indicated generally above, the device maybe suited for permanent or temporary attachment to clothing. If it is tobe permanent, the preferred structure would consist of a cloth backingwith heat-sensitive adhesive for attachment to the fabric to beprotected. The adhesive should, of course, be resistant to cleaningfluid. The glossy soil resistant area should have a durable surface notlikely to be damaged by cleaning fluid or by pressing. The soilreceptive area should be one which is capable of being cleaned torestore it to its initial white or light condition when the garment orfabric itself is cleaned.

On the other hand, where it is intended that the indicator be replacedupon each successive cleaning, the adhesive attachment should besomewhat less durable and may be pressure sensitive. A synthetic latexadhesive suggests itself in such applications in that the adhesive willbe soluble in cleaning fluid and thus the tag will be lost in thecleaning process if it is not manually removed beforehand. A replaceableindicator of this character offers certain advantages in that the datingof the last cleaning can be carried by the garment, and thesoilreceptive and resistant areas need not meet the requirements ofreusability. Thus, a paper backing may be employed, and there need notbe a separate strip for the indicator. If a backing of unsized cloth orwhite paper of rough and absorbent texture is employed, a spot of sizingcan be printed on that same sheet so that the size area constitutes thesoil-resistant patch and the remainder of the sheet constitutes thesoil-receptive patch.

It is evident that although dry-cleaning establishments greatly preferindicators providing sufficient room on the face thereof to record theiridentity, this consideration is not essential to the practice of theinvention, and the patch or strip 16 along, as illustrated in thefigures, could be applied to the fabric in any of the fashionsindicated.

It will thus be appreciated that the structural variations possible inthe practice of this invention are extensive. The tag can be applied tothe fabric by heator pressure-sensitive adhesives or by staples or pins.The tag may be separate from the indicating patch or may in itselfconstitute the indicating patch. The tag may consist of paper, cloth, orindeed any inexpensive flexible material. The indicator patch mayconsist of any of these materials or a separate plastic tab. The smooth,soil-resistant portion of the indicator may consist of a filled orcoated porous material but should have a smooth slick surface. Thesoil-receptive area may consist of an unfilled or uncoated portion ofthe same surface, but should be relatively rough. The two surfaces mightalso be provided from a plastic sheet one portion of which is smooth andthe other of which is rough. A flocked coating for the rough portionsuggests itself. In view of these extensive variations, it is thereforedesired that this invention be regarded as being limited only as setforth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A soil indicating patch of a pliant material in the nature of paperand cloth adapted to be attached to the surface of a fabric to indicatethe soiling thereof having a rough soil-receptive area and a smoothsoil-resistant area on that side thereof other than the side ofattachment of substantially the same light color when clean, said areasbeing sufficiently near each soil-collecting area and a soil-resistantarea on the outside surface thereof, and areas having substantially thesame light color, and comparing said areas for contrast periodically.

4. The method as set forth in claim 3 wherein said soil-collecting areais smooth and said soil-resistant area isrough.

i l i 1 l

1. A soil indicating patch of a pliant material in the nature of paperand cloth adapted to be attached to the surface of a fabric to indicatethe soiling thereof having a rough soil-receptive area and a smoothsoil-resistant area on that side thereof other than the side ofattachment of substantially the same light color when clean, said areasbeing sufficiently near each other to permit ready visual comparison,and means for securing said side of attachment to a fabric.
 2. Thecombination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said securing meanscomprises an adhesive on the back of said patch.
 3. A method fordetermining the soiling of a fabric which comprises attaching to saidfabric a sheet of material having a soil-collecting area and asoil-resistant area on the outside surface thereof, and areas havingsubstantially the same light color, and comparing said areas forcontrast periodically.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 3 whereinsaid soil-collecting area is smooth and said soil-resistant area isrough.